By Jerrod Hester

Andrew Kinard graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 2004. Wanting more, Kinard assigned his commission to the Marine Corps, where he was branched as an infantry officer. Just two years later, he was deployed to Iraq as an infantry platoon commander, where his Marines would support local Iraqi policemen in the al Anbar province.

Only six weeks into his tour, First Lieutenant Kinard was leading his Marines on a local foot patrol when an improvised explosive device (IED) was detonated right under his feet. The IED was a 155-mm artillery shell filled with explosives. From the pain alone, the explosion left Kinard in a month-long coma.

Over the coming days, he underwent cardiac arrest on multiple occasions; he received 67 units of blood. His body was trying to die, but his Marines kept him alive until he reached the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. There, both of his legs were amputated just below the hips; he underwent over 60 surgeries and a half-year of rehab.

After losing both legs, many people might just give up, but Andrew Kinard decided to keep going. Little did he know just how far he could go. During his rehab, he found out about the Wounded Warrior Project. Soon after Kinard was medically retired from the Marine Corps, he worked in the Office of Legislative Council for Republican Senator Lindsay Graham from South Carolina. Kinard was then asked to be a member on the Board of Directors for the Wounded Warrior Project. In August 2009, Kinard entered Harvard Law School. His Marines and the staff at the National Naval Medical Center kept this war hero alive, but the Wounded Warrior Project showed him he could still live.

The Wounded Warrior Project is a non-profit organization whose mission is to raise public awareness for severely wounded veterans, and to help such veterans with their needs. Last year the Wounded Warrior Project provided over $39 million in services to our disabled veterans. This money does not come out of thin air, or from some "stimulus" bill. It comes from the hearts of the American people. All across the nation, community organizers are hosting charity events like chili cook-offs, bench-press competitions, 5K runs, and silent auctions, all to benefit the Project.

Most of us in Alabama follow college football. Well, when the University of South Carolina played the University of Florida and the University of Maryland played Virginia Tech, the football teams, in connection with Under Armour, designed special jerseys to be worn in these two games this year (right around Veterans Day). Even if both teams lost, the jerseys were a success! The jerseys were auctioned for $130,000, with all proceeds going to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project.

A good friend of mine is a stay-at-home mother and a community organizer in South Huntsville. She has worked on a number of projects in her community. Last year she was the booster club president. On Saturday, February 6, she is going to host a 5K run, with all of the proceeds going to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project and the Grissom High School JROTC. This friend of mine, Stefanie Armstrong, has a Wounded Warrior story of her own.

She was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 18th Airborne Corps as a paratrooper. Yes, a stay-at-home mom used to jump out of airplanes—and she could probably have taken you out! Stefanie served under Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Upon returning home she resigned her commission when she gave birth to her first son, Matthew (Payne). She says that becoming a mother caused her to lose her edge, so instead of jumping out of airplanes in pursuit of bad guys, she does triathlons with her husband, Bob.

Both Stefanie’s father and late husband are retired commissioned officers, and her father-in-law is retired from the Navy as a pilot in both World War II and Vietnam. Stefanie’s late husband, Terry Payne, was also an officer in the 82nd Airborne. Before completing a 20-plus-year career, Lt. Col. Payne was a member of First Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta, commonly known as Delta Force. Delta Force operatives are hand-selected based on very rigorous physical and mental tests. It is not uncommon for them to march 40-plus miles over mountainous terrain with a hundred-pound pack. (Want more? Try doing this without sleep for two days and without food for one day.) Delta’s mission is mostly counter-terrorism and hostage rescue missions. These men are the elite of all of our Special Operations Command.

Lt. Col. Payne passed away unexpectedly in 2004 after he retired from the Army. Stefanie is now remarried to Bob Armstrong, a NASA rocket scientist, and their family is dedicated to The Wounded Warrior philosophy. Stefanie is vitally interested in its success because both of her sons, Matthew and Tanner, want to follow in their father’s footsteps. (Actually, Tanner wants to become a blacksmith--he still has a burning desire to liberate the oppressed.)

The 5K will start at Ken Johnson Park (Mountain Gap entrance) and go to the Aldridge Creek Greenway and back. For more information, please call 256-216-6307.